Linn LP-12 still competitive with the very best?

Mapman, i have an Axis that i have owned for nearly 20 years too and it has always been good and very fuss free. 3 years ago i bought a late 80's LP12/Ittok from EBay for what would have been about 1000 dollars. I live in the UK. I set up the lp12 myself from manuals on the internet and the the deck has been sounding wonderful ever since. In fact it is sounding better than anything i have ever heard and has needed no further tweaking. Compared to the Axis which is still set up on the same system, the LP12 is punchier, much more focussed with better treble extension and has a much blacker background between notes. It also appears to almost literally throw instruments around the room with its dynamics and soundstage presentation. I know there must be better decks around, especially nowadays with all the development that has gone on but for what i paid it is an awesome turntable and thoroughly stomps over any of the CD players that i have tried on my system, including a Lin Karik/Numerik mk111.

Hi Mapman, i have used a K9 and a Goldring 1042 in both decks and the results are pretty much the same. The LP12 sounds better. The arms are Ittok LV11 on the LP12 and Akito on the Axis. The 1042 sounds great on both decks by the way. Recently i tried a Denon 103R on the LP12 and it was pretty good but in some ways not as good as the 1042. This was replaced after 4 months by an Audio Technica AT33PTG after i broke the cantilever on the 103R. The AT33PTG is definitely the best cartidge i have owned and really sings on the LP12. I will not try to fit it to the Axis because the headshell on the Akito is quite small and it would be a very tight fit, as was the Denon 103R. The Goldring is now back on the Axis and still sounding good with a newly run in stylus but the LP12/Audio Technica is a lot better. I was very happy with my Axis and bought an LP12 to satisfy my curiosity with all the hype, having wanted one for 25 years!. I drove 200 miles to pick it up, to avoid damage in transit, and i was dissapointed at first listening. I set it up over a few weeks and changed the oil and have never looked back. I keep the Axis to play 45's and to play less than perfect records on but always actually listen to the LP12.
My phono stages are all home made. I have 5 or 6 of them, all battery powered. One is moving coil only but i also have built a moving coil step up stage that can be used with any of the other moving magnet versions. I have to say that they all sound very good. In this case the phono stage is not the issue as i have swapped them between decks many times during their development.

I doubt if many people still believe that the LP12 is the "best" even if it ever was. But i always wanted one because every review that i read seemed to describe the type of sound that i was looking for and whilst expensive it was not totally out of the realms of affordability. I prefer a presentation that sounds like music to me even if it is not absolutely accurate. I am not a musician and i never listen to classical or jazz but on rock/pop/blues and folk the LP12 gives a convincing impression of a live event, unlike any CD player that i have heard. Like Mapman i bought an Axis (all i could afford) which has served me well for nearly 20 years. It too has a lifelike sound to me, but to a lesser degree. I have had an LP12 now for over 3 years and love it. It is by no means the latest spec. but sounds so good that i dont feel the need to upgrade it. I think Linns upgrades are ridiculously overpriced. I do tend to buy things and keep them for a long time anyway. If money was no object then i would probably have something other than a top Linn but i would would certainly audition one just to see where it stands against others.